Man sentenced to 25 years for murder

PALMER -- An Anchorage man convicted of second-degree murder in shooting another man and dumping his body off the side of the road in Sutton two years ago was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison.

Darin L. Jones, 35, was arrested in Anchorage Aug. 26, 2000, on a weapons charge. Apparently during a police interview, Jones provided information that led police and Alaska State Troopers to the body of 27-year-old Shane P. Rogers.

Rogers' body was discovered days after Jones' arrest at a turnout at Mile 65.5 Glenn Hwy. A state medical examiner's autopsy revealed Rogers died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.

Jones was scheduled to stand trial May 1 on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, manslaughter, misconduct involving a controlled substance and misconduct involving a weapon. Instead of going to trial, he struck a plea agreement for second-degree murder.

According to court files, Jones and Rogers drove from Anchorage to Palmer on Aug. 25, 2000, to go

to the Alaska State Fair. They apparently were taking methamphetamine and kept driving north in Jones' Datsun.

Jones reportedly told investigators the two were friends who worked together at an Anchorage concrete company and lived together off and on. Rogers and Jones had been smoking and taking lines of methamphetamine as they drove, according to statements Jones made to police. He became increasingly convinced he was being poisoned by Rogers, he told police, "by some kind of gun powder" or red phosphorus in the meth. He said he felt his "brain melting" and "fire in his back."

The two men argued as they drove, Jones reportedly told police. Jones described a 9mm weapon on the console of the Datsun, which he picked up at some point and Rogers tried to wrestle from his hand. The gun went off the first time without harming Rogers, but a second struggle several minutes later resulted in Rogers being shot, Jones told police.

Anchorage police questioned Jones after they found a Datsun on the side of the road at Old Seward Highway and Dowling Road with Jones' driver's license in the seat. A broken window left glass on the floorboards, and police found blood on the passenger seat.

Jones said he had run out of gas and went to a nearby residence, where he took Rogers' truck. Police located Jones at his home blocks away, along with a gun, and charged him as a felon in possession of a weapon.

During subsequent questioning at APD quarters, Jones was apparently disoriented on the drugs and told police several times that "Shane is not dead." At one point, he wondered aloud why the police were questioning him since "You were there, weren't you?"

In the transcripts of those interviews, Jones told police the drugs he was taking made him think that someone else was in the car with him and Rogers. He stopped talking during a seemingly lucid moment after being questioned about Rogers' death, and asked for an attorney. At the sentencing, two forensic experts testified, one to show the drastic effects meth has creating bizarre behavior.

Anchorage Superior Court Judge Dan Hensley, presiding judge, listened to Jones' family members testify at the sentencing about how Jones normally is when he doesn't take drugs. Both his brother and sister said they knew Jones had a severe problem, and that he wasn't welcome at their homes when he was high. But they described him as a hard worker and a good person who had family tragedy. His brother began to take drugs at the age of 12, Rick Jones said.

Defense attorney Darrell Gardner described the circumstances surrounding Roger's death as "a tragedy of monumental proportions," but said that with rehabilitation, Jones would prove to be a different person than the one who shot Rogers.

Assistant District Attorney Jack Smith described previous instances involving Jones' criminal history, particularly one where he fired five shots at a vehicle while intoxicated on drugs. If Jones were let out of jail, Smith said, all the information indicates he would be a danger to society because he won't leave drugs and guns alone.

"He has prior assaultive behavior -- he shot at someone before this. There is every indication he knew he had a drug problem, that he was ordered after the last incident to not use drugs, to not own a handgun," Smith said. "When he uses drugs he has a tendency to use guns, then becomes paranoid and violent."

Highly emotional statements were also made by Rogers' family. His mother, Kathy Rogers, and his sister, Shawn Rogers spoke at the sentencing hearing. The victim's mother faced Jones and told him she hopes he is locked up for a long time.

"Someday you will be let out of jail after you have served your sentence for murder," Kathy Rogers told Jones. "We're never going to get out."

She described her son's five-year-old child who tries to "square it away in his head" what happened to his father. "The worst part of it is that he knows who you are … I hope you are there a long time because not for a second do I believe that if you got out, you wouldn't go out and [take drugs] all over again."

Shawn Rogers told Jones to his face that he makes her sick, and no one should have to be in her family's position. "All that I've heard so far is that you shouldn't have to be in this position. My brother is the one that doesn't deserve to be in his position," she said.

Jones addressed the Rogers family briefly, saying "Shane is dead and that's the whole issue, and they have every right to believe as they believe … Nothing can bring him back, and I have to live with that the rest of my life," he said.

Judge Hensley agreed that deterrence was a necessary measure in the case, and he sentenced Jones to 52 years with 27 suspended, 10 years probation and ordered rehabilitation conditions. "Mr. Jones is dangerous if I go by his history, and it's a long history," Hensley said.